Hardball

Joseph P. Nacchio was convicted in April of insider trading. Is this just another sleazy used car salesman on steroids with his greed switch on overload?

Not exactly.

He is the former CEO for Qwest Communications International that rebuked the Administrations efforts to monitor their customers conversations without a warrant. Unfortunately, not all telecom companies felt compelled to follow the law.

Perhaps they felt they could eventually get retroactive immunity from a compliant congress. Donations have a way of purchasing a lot of explanations.

The really foul thing about this story is the offer of multi-million dollar no-bid contracts that were yanked when Qwest failed to participate in this criminal enterprise. A pay-to-play arrangement.

Bush, and the entire right wing fanaticsphere have trotted out the shiny slogan "Terris Surveillance Program" and just flat out scream at anyone who mentions privacy or civil rights. The wide stance viewpoint of the reich-wingers is "dead people have no civil rights."

But these legal documents state the Bush administration was attempting to put in place the warrantless wiretapping program a full six months before September 11, 2001. It makes it very hard to believe the reason the administration seized the power to break the law was 9/11 when the program was being implemented prior to 9/11. The fact that 9/11 occurred anyway does not give a ringing endorsement to The Party Of Torture's shiny new fascist Orwellian worldview of private Government and public citizens. In short, the illegal program is an failure, unless of course it was designed to do something else entirely.

But Nacchio is convicted for insider trading (currently under appeal) for selling some stocks in light of some sooper sekrit NSA contract opportunities for Qwest in the pipeline. They were yanked when he refused to go along with their scheme. The jury was not allowed to hear any of this because of the "states secrets" mantra that comes from anything Bush does.

But the other telecom companies named Not Qwest? They are lobbying for retroactive immunity. Perhaps three percent of the contracts relating to sooper sekrit NSA programs will find their way into the coffers of Senators charged with reigning in a Presidency run amok.

It is a sad day when the peoples house vote to give immunity to blatant and repetitive lawbreaking by Government officials and Telecommunication industries. This is the type of thing that cause people to shake their heads and quit listening to politicians. After all, they are not listening to us.